I am a frame builder AMA

I’m on the fence as to whether a strut might make it worse by transferring the forces more directly to the chainstay.

The fatigue on the BB-chainstay joint from normal riding will be higher than anything extra from disc brakes I would imagine.

Thanks guys! super helpful and appreciated.

Would anyone here like to take on the job (paid ofc)? I’m in SE London.

Otherwise will prob go to Vaz if I do decide that I can’t live with a rim brake on the rear.

Koga Miyata !

Sweet.
Lemme check if I've got a 135mm dummy axle and if so, I'm happy to do it for you if you like

Hey Nick, seller went quiet and pulled the advert down mid-conversation, so I guess that’s that! Thank you for the reply all the same. Appreciate the mention of the frame saver, I’ve got a few frames that I’ll check to see if they have been sprayed at any stage. Cheers!

Cool! I'm not a real framebuilder by the way. I've only built one frame, on Dave Yates' course, and he made all the decisions!

Hey people, couple of questions -

My son, 9, has informed me that he wants to be a frame builder when he grows up 😁 I'm not going to hold him to that if he ever changes his mind, but are there any shows coming up as close to North London as possible which I could pencil in taking him to, so he can get some more intro to the wonderful world of custom bikes?

And also, on a North London proximity basis as well, does anyone have a Rivnut tool and the willingness to shoot a couple of replacement bottle cage bosses into an aluminium frame for me? Bought a used bike and helpfully wasn't informed that both bottle cage mounts on the downtube have broken free of their surroundings... 😔 Will reimburse with appropriate beverages / snacks / cash 😁

Bespoked is in London this year!

Oh cool, I'm not on top of this kind of thing at all 😂 cheers, will take a look 👍🏼

Oh just saw this reply! Yes pls, let me know

Had some braze ons removed from a spirit downtube. Just been doing the clean up and can feel the tube is slightly warped - is this anything to be concerned about? Or just part of where the heat has been applied. Thanks

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I’ve removed quite a few brazeons and often find a bit of distortion, quite a bit.

If you’re happy that the removal job was done carefully and without any filing of the tube taking place then I don’t think it’s much to worry about.

Yeah I can say I have also seen what @M_V is describing.
I have filled similar dents and sanded back before, but also left some without.

So, I got that frame, but it's in worse nick than I first thought. Ding might be the least of my worries - see pics.

I really love these Concorde frames and this paint job in particular, so really want to do something with it. Maybe a bit of a ratty single speed pub bike? Am I wasting my time? Is it beyond (economical) help?

Any advice or recommendations very welcome please, I'm way out of my depth here!

Thanks

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While clearly not mint there’s not too much there that’d overly concern me and maybe even some stuff to reassure.

The bb shell looks pretty crusty inside but that’ll likely clean up with some effort. I have a wire brush that’s like a metal version of a bottle brush, can stick it in a drill, ideal for this job.

That photo also shows a fairly clean looking inside of a chainstay so that’s something to be happy about.

The stuff around the fork crown also looks like it’d clean off, obviously the chrome will be a bit knacked but the crown is a solid cast piece so I wouldn’t worry about structural integrity there.

The downtube is a bit of a bummer but maybe more due to the paint being onto of chrome and the chrome not being that great depending on the age of the frame? When did the good chemicals start to get banned?! There’s tricks for cleaning up chrome, scrunched up tinfoil?

Over all, I’d give it a bit of elbow grease to clean it up, some lacquer or something to try and delay it getting any worse and a good fill up with Dinitrol or frame saver to stop it rusting from the inside out. Do that and it’ll likely keep going for a while yet.

Hi, I started a thread this evening about a question I have for framebuilders, but have just realised my question might have belonged in this thread. If a moderator or anyone could advise? Don't think I can delete my thread. Apologies!

Anyway, I'd be very grateful for any help with my question on a seat tube modification! Thanks : )

Cheers M_V that's really helpful, thank you!

My mates just bought this Frameset and I noticed there’s some scoring on the fork steerer, it’s not super deep but it’s not shallow either. Something to worry about?

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It's quite a thick tube down there. I wouldn't worry tbh

Nice thanks, just being extra anxious cos it won’t be me riding it :-)

You should probably try and find out why it happened tho

Yeah true, I’ll do some more investigating

Pretty stumped. It didn’t come with the headset fitted so I can’t see if anything was amiss with that. And there’s nothing going on in the head tube, totally smooth inside.

I would not worry so much. It doesn't look deep.